One Heartbeat Later
by Wolfwind97
Summary: I always knew I was going to die, but I never knew how. However, one heartbeat later, I was gone.


A/N: Scorpia Rising never happened! I do not own Anthony Horowitz or any of his books!

I always knew I was going to die, but I never knew how; until now that is. I lay here in the mud on my back looking up at the stars, my heartbeat continued to grow slower and slower. Each breath was becoming more painful and small. I could hear my comrades, K-Unit, yelling my name, bullets hitting concrete pillars, and my heartbeat... It was the stangest thing to be able to hear your heartbeat; it amazed me. I was about to die and the last thing I was going to hear was my ever-slowing heartbeat. I thought back, trying to remember how I got here on the ground with my life steadily slipping away.

_"Alex, we need you for another mission. You're going to be used as a scout this time, so you shouldn't be in the middle of a battle." Alan Blunt said, his eyes dark and serious._

_I sighed, "What organization is it this time?"_

_"A drug cartel just over Britain's border."_

_"And if I refuse?" I asked._

_Blunt looked at me, "You could loose your uncle's house, Jack and your friend Tom will be deported to America, you would go to Breacon Beacons, become a fulltime agent for MI6... Shall I continue?"_

_"No, I get the point. I should have known you would blackmail me again like the last ten times." I looked down at the floor then back up to Blunt, "My luck is not going to last forever. One day, I'm going to die and you'll have to find somebody else. You just better hope they're as good as or better than I am. Now that's said, who am I going with?"_

_(The Next Day)_

_So, here I was with K-Unit, the unit I adored so much. Fox sat beside me and we talked for a bit before we had to tell the others we knew each other from a past assignment. They didn't ask for details, but I figured that's what they wanted. After all, what teenager in his right mind would be working for a government who didn't care if he ended up dead? However, I didn't care about K-Unit, they put me through hell when I was training with them and I didn't owe them anything. Well, I owed Wolf since he was shot tryig to protect me, but the others were just... there. I didn't want to get to know them or talk with them and it was pretty obvious they didn't either._

_When we reached our destination, I could tell scouting the place would take forever. The building was like a mansion! It was three stories high and covered a lot of ground. Eagle hacked into the security system and shut the cameras down before I went in through a window. The place was extremely clean and boxes were sitting everywhere. I walked around ont he first floor for about a minute before seeing two guards at a doorway. I turned back and went into an office. When I opened one of the drawers, a set of blueprint's of the first floor was rolled up and sitting inside the drawer. I grabbed it and managed to find a set of stairs that took me to the second floor. When I looked at my watch, I noticed I had been in here for five minutes. Even though that wasn't too long, I knew I had to get out of there quickly to avoid being seen._

_On the second floor, I found what looked like the main office. I went to the desk that sat in the middle of the room and went through the drawers. However, I noticed my mistake too late when I saw the drawer I had opened had an alarm built inside. I muttered under my breath and dug around until I found the blueprint for the second and ran to find the third floor stairwell. When I found it, alarms were blaring through the hallways and I knew I didn't have much time left. What I found on the third floor was depressing, because there was nothing but boxes on the whole third floor. I knew it would take forever to find the blueprints and I didn't have that much time left. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and two guards appeared. Instinctively, I roundhouse kicked the first one and punched the second in the nose. I ran down the hallway and came face to face with a tall man with tattoos and piercings. In his hand was the blueprint I was looking for._

_"What are you doing here, kid?" The man asked. I decided to call him Tat. "This isn't the place for kids, but I figure this is what you're looking for." He held up the blueprints and pulled a gun out of his pocket. Gunfire could be heard from downstairs now and I figured K-Unit had infiltrated the building._

_"Nice set up you got here." I said, trying to think of a way to get the blueprint without getting shot. I stayed where I was for a moment, "You know, this place could really use-" At that, I jumped behind a stack of boxes just before the gun went off. I reached into my pocket and grabbed tear gas that Smither's gave me before I left. I threw the coin containing tear gas at Tat and pushed the button on my watch that activated it. I charged through the smokey gas, but I was grabbed from behind._

_"Stupid kid." Tat said and pushed the barrell of the gun into my back. "You shouldn't have came here." I heard K-Unit charge through the door._

_"Cub!"_

_Tat looked up at the new arrivals before raising his gun to them. I used this chance to hit Tat with my elbow, breaking his jaw. The blueprint and other papers fell out of his hands and I wadded them up before throwing them far to the side. The man growled in pain, but still pointed the gun at my comrades. I saw his finger tightening on the trigger and I knew I wouldn't be able to push it away in time. However, I had another plan, one that was going to kill me for sure. When I saw K-Unit come in, I dropped another coin I had held in my hand at Tat's feet. It was a small bomb but had the potential to kill anyone who was withing a fifteen feet range. I was about eight feet away from Tat and K-Unit was about twenty-five. I put my finger on my watch and pressed a button._

I don't even really remember the explosion, but I do remember the force of it sending me through a window behind me and I fell three stories to the ground. It was raining and I was freezing cold. Bones were sticking our of my skin from my arms, legs, and ribs. Blood was pouring onto the ground, but mixed with the rain a few seconds later. Everything in my body was numb and I was glad for that; I didn't want to experiance anymore pain. A few minutes later, I saw K-Unit surrounding me and I noticed there were no more gunshots. Snake was yelling in a radio, trying to get a helicoptor to take me to the hospital. I smiled, because I knew it would be too late. Then, I remembered Jack and Tom. I would feel bad for leaving them, but they wouldn't have to worry anymore. K-Unit's voices started to fade and a wave of darkness engulfed me and I heard my heartbeat. _Thump... Thump... Thump... Thu-... Thu-... Th-... Th-... _I felt myself smile one last time._ Thump..._ One heartbeat later, I was gone. _Thump..._


End file.
